Currently, hockey players practise the skating and shooting skills mainly on a nonmoving ice surface where it is a skater or rather a hockey player who moves on the ice, i.e. a skater or a hockey player changes his position and speed relative to the reference point connected with the ice surface. What is disadvantageous about this method is that it is rather difficult or even impossible to measure decisive biomechanical parameters of the skating technique performed by a skater or a hockey player that are important to identify opportunities to improve the skating technique of a hockey player.
Equally, under such conditions it is rather difficult to measure precisely a hockey player's preparedness in relation to the monitoring and evaluation of the determined visual signals that are important in order to identify opportunities to improve and practise the shooting skills of a hockey player.
There are several ice hockey treadmills/skatemills on the market that focus on the needs of the skating skills training based on a “treadmill” belt that is adapted for the purposes of a skating training, such as treadmills made by Woodway, Blazin Thunder Sports, xHockeyProducts, Skating Trademill, Pro Flight Sports, Skate Trek, Benicky System and RapidShot. These skatemills use surfaces of the so-called endless belts that are covered by slats made of PVC or the so-called artificial ice, i.e. from materials based on a high-density polyethylene that enable a hockey player to perform skating techniques on the working part of the belt without changing his/her position relative to the stationary parts of the skatemill or the static environment of the skatemill. The skatemills of the aforementioned manufacturers are typical representatives of the so-called island solutions that are designed solely for the skating techniques practice and, occasionally, for their testing, too. The island solution refers to a solution that uses an isolated skatemill without an integrated stationary area of the synthetic ice or without a barrier-free connection to the adjacent stationary synthetic ice area and which is not functionally integrated with other systems designed for training and measurement of the skating and hockey skills as well as for the measurement of the physical performance of skaters and hockey players. Because of this, these skatemills do not offer any realistic opportunities to practise shooting, nor do they make it possible to carry out other exercises focused on honing hockey skills—on practice and development of a hockey player's ability to react to visual stimuli (which are typical in a sport like hockey) and development of a hockey player's peripheral vision. Equally, these skatemills do not enable skaters, nor hockey players, to measure their physical performance. Another downside of the aforementioned skatemills is the fact that they are not suitable for the training of beginners or less able skaters as they are not equipped, in most cases, with adequate stabilization and restraint systems providing support and facilitating movement of the beginners on the movable part of the skatemill as well as their safety in the event of their complete loss of balance resulting in a fall.
State of the art is documented in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,520 where we completely describe the principle of the skatemill belt with a base support and a longitudinally tilting skating deck whose positive or negative incline may be adjusted by a lifting device using two threaded rods with an electric drive. The skating deck consists of a frame fitted with the drive and idler rollers running the endless belt with artificial ice surface slats in addition to the belt support rollers and an electric motor with electric switch including a drive inverter and other necessary electrical components with a control panel including indicators of speed and belt incline as well as control features such as Start, Stop, Incline etc. Used in the construction are: a rubber belt with the polyester core, contact strips made from the so-called hardened polyethylene fixed to the belt, dovetail mounts connecting the strips to the belt and a cross handle on the front side of the skating area.
In the state of the art is also known the patent CA2672558C which describes the basic principle of the skatemill belt with a single-axis longitudinal tilting with a platform adjacent to the front side of the belt. This construction consists of a base support, a load-bearing frame of the endless belt defining the skating area, a motor connected to the belt drive, a pivotal connection of the belt-bearing frame with the base support that allows tilting of the longitudinal skating area around the axis of the front roller and connecting the stationary platform to the front of the skating platform.
Furthermore, in the state of art is also the U.S. Pat. No. 5,509,652, which describes a hockey practice alley without a moveable belt for practicing shooting skills at the goal structure. The surface of the hockey practice alley is made of artificial ice, the material whose friction properties are similar to those of natural ice. As the goal structure may be rotatably mounted on the shooting surface for simulating a variety of angle shots, the hockey player may select a stationary position on the platform.
Another patent in the state of art is U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,000, which describes a technical solution for a goaltender simulator system without a moveable belt designed to practice shooting on a hockey goal. This system simulates behaviour of a live goaltender in such a way that the trajectory of a puck launched by a player toward the goal is tracked by a camera and based on the detected positions of the puck, a computer control predicts the trajectory of the puck and a place where it is anticipated to enter the goal and moves the goaltender figure to the appropriate position to prevent it from entering the goal. The shooting surface of the simulator where the practice takes place, i.e. from where the hockey player shoots pucks is made of artificial ice, the material whose friction properties are similar to those of natural ice.
In the state of art of the U.S. Pat. No. 3,765,675 may be found a description of other, simplified technical solution for a simulated hockey goalie without a moveable skatemill belt that is designed to practice shooting on a goal. In this case, the simulated hockey goalie does not use a system for the puck trajectory prediction but rather a simple cyclical move across the mouth of a hockey goal from one side to the other. Like in the previous cases, the shooting alley surface of the simulator is made of artificial ice, the material whose friction properties are similar to those of natural ice.
Marginally, the issue is addressed in the treadmill walking as described in the published application WO2012/016131A1 which describes the applied principle of biaxial tilting of the belt. The technical solution comprises a walking belt tiltable in two axes which allows to walk in any direction without the need to leave a relatively small area of the walking surface, i.e. the surface of the belt may move in any direction. The suspension system is merely to simulate the gravitational force and dynamic impulses disrupting the walker's stability but not to provide any safety feature.
Similarly, the issue is dealt with only marginally in the case of a simulator for a stick handling practice as described in the published application WO 2008/151418 A1 with the use of optical monitoring system.
Another marginal solution to the issue is a simulator designed to practice a training method intended mainly for players of collective sports in which the so-called permitted field is dynamically delimited by controlled illumination, in which an athlete nor his gear are allowed to leave a given area, as described in the published application RU 2490045 C1. The training field is monitored by means of an infrared camera and a method of comparing video footage recognized by the computer to the permitted area is used to evaluate and signal when the athlete leaves the specific area.
Marginally and in the scope limited to technical solutions of hockey shooting simulators, i.e. the simulators that do not feature moveable skatemill belts nor stationary platforms covered by artificial ice, are such solutions described in the following patents:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,776,019 describes a goalkeeping apparatus designed to practice shooting on a hockey goal. This apparatus does not include a skatemill belt, nor a solid surface made of artificial ice, but a blocking element, a movable figure of a goaltender in standard position, that is moved by the control system of the simulator from side to side and simultaneously or independently of the translational motion positioning the figure around the vertical axis in both directions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,509,650 describes an apparatus for improving the scoring skills in sports such as hockey, field hockey, futsal, handball, lacrosse etc. The apparatus does not include a skate mill belt, nor a stationary surface made of artificial ice but a goal with a non-moving goalkeeper figure in the standard position. Based on the current position of a player, the control system of the apparatus dynamically marks some of the target places in the open areas as a current target for which the player should aim in a predetermined time and the system evaluates the shooting percentage of the player.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,607,842 describes an apparatus for use by hockey players to practice their slap and wrist-shots on a goal. The apparatus does not include a skatemill belt and by means of light signals generated by lamps in each of the goal's corners it visually indicates to the players which target they must try to aim at. The apparatus comprises an endless belt that transports the pucks shot at the goal back to the player and automatically dispenses them to him/her. The surface of the elevated platform between the player's position and the goal which is covered by the belt for the return transport of pucks is made of a material with properties similar to those of natural ice.
Because of the aforementioned shortcomings in the existing training platforms consisting of either stationary ice surface or an isolated movable belt covered with artificial ice but without a functional integration and lacking possibilities to test skating and hockey skills, an idea for an integrated multi-purpose hockey skatemill has appeared. A system that would offer an individual training and provide skating and hockey tests on the skatemill belt with safety, stabilization, signalization and display features, optical scanning cameras, puck feeders, a system for measuring tensile and compressive forces exerted by skaters or hockey players, a control computing hardware tool such as a computer designed for individual training and skating and hockey skills tests, as the one which is described in the submitted invention.